If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Cheongju badminton

Hey Guys,

I'm currently residing in Cheongju an have yet to hear about badminton here. Is there any place with a advance level club down here or are they all in Seoul? If thats the case, I'll go back to the other threads. But one more question where can I find real good real top of the line raquets down here or in Seoul?

Two lists of clubs for Cheongju: one for Sangdang-gu and one for Heungdeok-gu. The best idea is to find someone near you who can read Korean and who knows the area, including where you live and work and get them to scour the list. Then, from among the clubs in your area, start looking at the prices and the type of facility, etc. You can usually visit a club a couple of times before being pressured to join so you can figure out how convenient it is to get to and how good the players are. Most clubs have a variety of levels, even out in the sticks, although there are typically better players in larger centres. Chungbuk is likely the weakest province with respect to elite-level play but there will still be capable coaches in the area. You are less than an hour away by train from Shintanjin, which is where the KT&G team (e.g. Baes Youn Joo and Seung Hee) train. If no one locally can help you, give us some indication of where in Cheongju you are and we can find something from the club lists. I've never played there, however.

As for shopping, online is generally trustworthy and that's definitely where you get the best selection. For a real store, your best bet is to find a big public gym and look either inside or across the street. If there is no shop nearby, and you ask a club member, they will more than likely introduce you to the other club member who strings racquets and sells equipment. Every club seems to have one and they sometimes only do one or two brands.

For online shops, this thread is still mostly up-to-date, except for Winers, Aplus, and sujo.

I sent you an message but I think the correct spelling is Gayeong dong, is the area I'm located. Also I asked one of my wife's korean associate and he said that where my wife teaches is Heungdeok-gu is that correct event?

As for online purchases. When you say trust worthy do you mean real authenticated racquets? or do you mean legitimate shipping?

By trustworthy, I originally meant the former, authentic products, but the latter is also true. 'Taekbae', or door-to-door shipping in Korea is efficient and cheap, often free for purchases over 50,000won, in fact. I've never heard of a fake racquet coming from an online shop, either.

It sounds as if you mean Gagyeong-dong. That would most likely put your very near, likely south and/or east of the main bus terminals, yes? That 'dong' (sometimes translated as 'burrough') is within Heungdeok-gu ('gu' is sometimes translated as 'ward'). That means that the Seohyun Club, which is #14 on the Heungdeok list, would likely be the closest one to you, since it is actually in Gagyeong-dong, on the 5 courts of Seohyun Middle School.

There is also a big place in the giant sports complex 5km east of the bus terminal. One article said it would have 12 courts but the clubs that play there - #4 and #12 on the list - say 7 courts. Another place - #6 on the list - is located at the north end of the complex and supposedly has 9 courts but the club plays in the morning. It's worth checking out both, though.

You were vvery helpful. I'll now just get one of my korean associates to translate the sites for me and hopefully get a racquet where I get to play at one of these location and see which one has the better level. Thanks for all your time, you too queenmillennia hopefully I can play with you if theres a time where I would go up to Seoul to play. Because my korean friend is coming from Canada to live in Seoul for 2 months and I'll be staying with him, so I look forward to playing badminton there!